PayPal’s Braintree Gambles on Bitcoin and One-Touch Payments

A subsidiary of PayPal, Braintree, announced it will soon allow its users to pay with bitcoin.

California-based e-commerce company PayPal will soon allow its users to make payments with digital currency.

After weeks of discussions about the possible integration, Braintree, owned by PayPal, which was purchased by eBay last year for $800 million, announced it is going to add bitcoin payment option in the next months.

Moreover, the firm will simplify the process of payment by enabling its users to use mobile app Venmo that makes payment with one touch. The feature allows users not to insert their usernames and passwords each time they pay.

Braintree also entered into partnership agreement with processing firm Coinbase, which first started discussing possible collaboration with Braintree in August.

The news was then officially released at TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco on Monday during a speech given by Bill Ready, chief executive officer of Braintree. He said PayPal intended to begin using the virtual money and make mobile payments more accessible. “This is PayPal making a move to embrace bitcoin,” he told TechCrunch.

“While we’re focused on giving people more seamless buying experiences, we’re also fierce advocates of giving merchants — and in turn their customers — flexibility and the freedom of choice,” Ready said at the conference.

Consumers will be able to pay with digital currency by integrating Coinbase wallets with Braintree accounts. The platform is under development now and is forecast to be launched in the following months.

The announcement was made after a release of a promotional video by PayPal on Monday that caused talks in the bitcoin community. The promo suggested that Braintree’s parent company eBay may soon accept digital currency.

Coinbase noted that the firm’s developers and Braintree will be working together during the next few months in order to finish bitcoin adoption. No formal timeline for the official launch date was given. Information about the official launch date has not been provided.

Coinbase also stated in its blog post that Braintree businesses will have to create new merchant account with Coinbase to finish integration.

The company noted that those Braintree merchants that are willing to get an opportunity earlier can contact Coinbase through a dedicated email address. Furthermore, Coinbase indicated that it will also distribute the news about the launch through this mailing list.

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